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Ancient legends, myths cast spell

The cast of Once Upon a Time: James Dornan as Sheriff Graham, Lana Parilla as Evil Queen/Regina, Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margret, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming, Robert Carlyle as Rumplestilskin /Mr. Gold, Jared Gilmore as Henry, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan

SAN DIEGO - Hey vampires: Put a stake in it. And for all you zombies, it's best if you shuffle out of the way. There's a new supernatural threat on the pop-cultural landscape - and it's far older, darker and deadlier. Modern monsters, meet your ancestors: fables.

Creatures of ancient myth and legend are leaving audiences spellbound these days with the launch of two unique TV series. Grimm, premiering Friday on CTV and NBC, is about a homicide detective who learns that fairy tales are all too real - and that he's the descendant of a long line of monster slayers. Once Upon a Time, which bowed Oct. 23 on CTV and ABC, is about fairy-tale characters such as Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin who are banished to our world with no memory of their magical selves. Both shows offer a dark, modern twist on myths and legends that have been alive for generations.

"Fairy tales (are) the next uncharted territory in (a) world of zombies, vampires, werewolves and aliens," said Montreal actor Sasha Roiz, who stars in Grimm as a police captain. "And they've been with us the longest. They are firmly rooted in our identity and culture."

Roiz said the old tales, many of which were famously collected by the Grimm brothers in the 18th and 19th centuries, actually functioned as warnings.

"They hold a lot of metaphors and life lessons," he said in a phone interview. "There are themes that run through all the tales (such as) people masked as (someone else in disguise), not being deceived by the surface appearance of someone. They teach children how to get on in the world - or see the danger that lies within (some strangers)."

From The Big Bad Wolf posing as Red Riding Hood's grandmother to the seemingly kind, old woman who invites Hansel and Gretel into her home - only to show her true colours as a child-hungry witch - folklore is filled with stories about illusions, deceptions and ulterior motives. That theme plays out on Grimm - and the lead character Nick Burckhardt, played by David Giuntoli, is the only person who can see through the creatures' human disguises.

Grimm blends ancient fantasy with the conventional police procedural. In an interview at Comic-Con, the annual pop-culture convention in San Diego, Giuntoli said his character will have a tough time bringing mythical monsters to justice while still following police procedures. "I'll know the answer, I'll see the criminal, but I can't let anyone else know I'm seeing this monster. . . . That's one of the major conflicts."

Giuntoli said the series is grounded in the here and now - not once upon a time. But the premiere does offer allusions to its folklore source material, depicting a forest of moss-covered trees that would be at home in Tolkien's Shire and a spooky, Germanic-looking cabin that could double as an illustration in the original Grimm's Fairy Tales.

"These aren't caricatures of beasts, werewolves and things like that," he said of his show's villains. "It's really easy to accept it as real."

While Grimm and Once cast their magic on the small screen, folklore is also being reinvented in film. The Immortals, starring Mickey Rourke and Henry Cavill, hits silver screens on Nov. 11, telling the tale of Theseus, a man chosen by the Greek god Zeus to be a hero. Meanwhile, two different Snow White films are slated for release in 2012 - one titled Snow White and the Huntsman and starring Twilight's Kristen Stewart, and another version starring Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen. Meanwhile, this past year saw the releases of Red Riding Hood and a Beauty and the Beast revamp called Beastly.

Robert Carlyle, who plays the malevolent trickster Rumpelstiltskin in Once Upon a Time, said the old tales endure because they "touch your heart."

"It was interesting finding out about Rumpelstiltskin characters throughout the world," he said in an interview at Comic-Con. "The guy crops up in various different cultures, he's called different names. . . . It's subtly different every time."

Carlyle said our familiarity with legendary characters allows the drama to "play with expectations" and truly surprise people.

Lana Parrilla, who plays the Evil Queen, researched her role by reading its many dark variations, noting there are takes on Snow White where the queen orders the huntsman to bring back the girl's heart or an eye. Not exactly The Wonderful World of Disney.

"As I kid, I never wanted to be a princess," Parrilla said. "I loved the little mermaid, and Ursula was my favourite character. I always wanted to play a witch. . . . It's the villains that are the most fun, the most challenging."

The show portrays its fable characters as real people with real emotions and problems, said Josh Dallas, who plays Prince Charming. "It was a chance to . . . look at him, not as this untouchable royal, but as an Everyman who gets his hands dirty."

One of the most hotly anticipated future TV series is HBO's American Gods, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Based on a civil war between old gods and new, the book is steeped in folklore and stars Odin, the legendary Norse God. It's slated to air in 2013.

Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Once's creators and writers, think the resurgence of old legends is all about hope. Horowitz noted that the original cartoon Snow White came out during a depression and drew a parallel to today's bleak economic climate.

"I think they come at times when people need hope," Kitsis said. "A fairy tale is kind of the equivalent of why you buy a lottery ticket, so you can go in and tell the boss to go to hell, you're quitting - and going to (live) your dream, whether an island or Paris. And that's a fairy tale. One day, you're sweeping up after your sisters and your stepmom, and the next day, you go to the ball and you're a princess."

Bill Willingham was ahead of the curve. His popular comic series Fables launched in 2002 and tells the twisted tales of fairy-tale characters exiled from their homelands and living in a magical community in modern New York City.

"We had a 10-year head start," he said, while noting one key factor that explains the enduring popularity of folk tales - from Cinderella to The Three Little Pigs.

"These are tales that belong to everybody . . . everybody individually. Every single person individually owns every one of these tales and can do whatever he or she wants with them."

For his part, embracing the original, dark versions of folk tales is essential for telling an honest story.

"An artificial happy ending . . . means that you really didn't do that story," he said. "I don't think it's a bad thing that these lessons be communicated in slightly scary ways. Scary is not a bad teaching tool."

Willingham said the values found in old folk tales remain universal. "Your sins will find you out. If you are a scoundrel, eventually, you're going to be made to pay . . . just the standard ideal that integrity wins in the end."

Grimm's Roiz said fairy tales and folklore are part of our collective imagination, and will never feel outdated.

"Half of the things we see in film, TV and books are an extension of these fairy tales and myths we've all grown up on," Roiz said. "Myths and legends influence (the) plots and characters of all modern stories."

Grimm premieres Oct. 28 on NBC (9 ET/PT) and CTV (8 ET/PT); Once Upon a Time premiered Oct. 23 at 8 ET/PT on CTV and ABC.

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